Over the weekend, a friend and I went to the Whitney Museum to see Georgia O’Keefe: Abstraction. The superb exhibit is on display for another two weeks and is definitely worth a visit. Among the many paintings, drawings, and watercolors that illustrate O’Keefe’s ability to convey the rhythms of nature and the human body within a singular work – mainly through fluid, rippling strokes of color that appear to be flowers or female sex organs – was a 1927 work called Ballet Skirt or Electric Light (I noticed the title before actually looking at the painting). The oil on canvas work is so richly textured yet so simple; so in line with the themes in the rest of her abstract work yet quieter and more subdued than many of her more colorful paintings. There are over 125 pieces on display in the exhibit, but take a moment to look at this one before it heads back to its permanent home at The Art Institute of Chicago.

3 Responses to Georgia O’Keefe at the Whitney

I hadn’t thought of that but her influence on O’Keefe is definitely possible.

Do you know about choreographer Jody Sperling and her Time Lapse Dance ensemble? Much of Sperling’s work is inspired by Fuller’s dancing – in 2007 she recreated Fuller’s “Ballet of Light”. I’m sure she would know if O’Keefe was inspired by Fuller.